Friday, January 1, 2010

Looking Forward

I commented on one of the blogs that I follow, that I think one of the things that makes life good, is working forward. Not thinking back, not even necessarily "looking forward", but working forward.

We do what we do everyday, get up, grab some coffee, or not, go to work, come home, watch something on the tube, and go to bed. That is our day.

I do not believe that we are here to just keep repeating that, day in and day out. Yes, we all have some lousy days. Days where we don't know how we're ever going to come out ahead. Days where the weight of life's expectations are more than we have to give. No matter the reasons.

Don't we all have dreams, wishes, visions of what we want our lives to look like? So many things are out of our control; economy, our abilities, health.Am I naive to think that we have any say in our future, in spite of these outer conditions? Maybe.

I can only tell you that I have been blessed with the blindness of the past, the reality of the present, and the dream of the future. I believe. Yes, I admit that my circumstances are pretty damned good. I worry about my family, my finances, and life in general. But truth be told, I have food on my table every night, heat in the cold, and a loving family. I am truly blessed. I'm not sure why. Am I special? Absolutely not. Do I have abilities that put me in a hightened caste? Hell no! Have I made rotten decisions that have totally turned my life around? Oh.... yeah!

But what I do have is the belief that I will land on my feet. I will figure out a way. Put my head down, and charge.

This is what I wish for everyone this brand new year. The ability to charge!

We are all so blessed if we only look at the Big Picture. After spending five years photographing in Third World countries, I know that the problems most people experience on a daily basis don't amount to a hill of beans. My house could blow away in a tornado, Wizard of Oz style, and it would not phase me.

Charge ahead but do it slowly knowing that you really do have a good life compared to much of the world.

I worked for a photographer many years ago, and when people brought in their children who would not stop crying, she always wanted to take pictures of them. She would tell people, "Look, don't you want to document how they really are? Not just a cookie cutter image like every other kid?" Two families actually took her up on it, and we were both so happy.